


Oh Harry

by BenvolioKnowsBest (BKB)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abusive Dursley Family, Angst, Cupboard, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-13
Updated: 2016-11-13
Packaged: 2018-08-30 20:18:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8547727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BKB/pseuds/BenvolioKnowsBest
Summary: The effects of Harry's childhood at the Dursley's reach far into the future, and Ginny Potter is left to pick up the pieces.





	

The house was in disarray, as was usually the case when he was left in charge of the children. Harry might be the most excellent cook, but his cleaning left much to be desired. It was a rarity that he was left completely in charge, but work had called with some “urgent” business and Ginny’s presence was required at short notice. It helped that Harry was currently on annual leave and was able to rearrange some appointments to look after the kids. 

As she entered the front door she had to hop over a forgotten broom and a pile of winter coats that had been left hanging on the floor. Boots were strewn haphazardly across the hallway floor and it looked like someone had decided to clean out the hallway closet, but had only managed half a job. As she stepped around an old, bottomless cauldron (why that hadn’t been thrown out was beyond her reckoning) she bent to collect the first of the detritus covering the floor. The house seemed quiet, almost too quiet, as she began to sort through the sea of belongings around her. She called out to the house, and strangely didn’t get a response - Harry must be with the children in the garden. It was a lush June afternoon after all. 

Hunting for her wand in her cloak pocket she muttered a charm to bring some sort of order to the scattered items when she was stopped short by what appeared to be a whimpering sound coming from nearby. There was silence as she leaned towards the door of the closet. A sniff, followed by another, louder one came from within the cupboard! Now this was odd. She may have grown up in a house with a groaning ghoul in the attic but it rarely whimpered, and as far as she knew they had put boggart repellent charms on all the house’s storage areas, hallway closet included. 

Raising her wand towards the door, she grasped the handle and pulled. It was locked. She frowned, the hallway cupboard didn’t usually contain anything of value, and therefore hadn’t been locked since they moved in. Worry began to set in and upon hearing another small, child-like sound from within she decided that whatever was in there couldn’t be particularly harmful - Harry would have dealt with it otherwise. Having a house full of children also clued her into the fact that it was probably one of the children playing silly buggers with each other. James was forever managing to cause havoc and though much quieter Albus had his moments. It was probably some prank.

Whispering an unlocking spell, she heard the lock click open. Pulling on the door she braced herself for whatever was in there. Despite it being an unlit cupboard, the afternoon light streaming in through the window in the front door was enough to illuminate the closet’s occupant. 

Albus was huddled in the corner, hugging his knees to his chest and gently crying. Rushing forwards she knelt in front of Albus and put hand to his face to check he was alright. His eyes filled up at her gentle touch and he flung himself into her embrace. Sobbing, Ginny rocked him gently. Albus was using her as a handkerchief and she could feel his tears soaking her robes. Making gentle “shhh” noises she began stroking his back to help calm him and his shuddering body.

After a few minutes his crying quieted and Ginny decided it was time to get to the bottom of what was going on. Pulling back and wiping his face with her hands, she asked “Albie, what happened?”

Hiccuping Albus responded, “He…locked me…in!” With tears pooling once more Ginny pulled him closer and rested his head upon her shoulder. James, she despaired sometimes, really knew how to push the limits. 

“It’s alright baby, it’s okay” she cooed and stroked his hair soothingly. “Where’s James honey? And your father?” Upon hearing this Albus’ sobs increased in volume and Ginny wondered what she had said to upset him so. James had really done it this time! 

Squeezing him tighter once more she rose and took hold of his trembling hand. Albus looked up at her through wet lashes as she rose and his sobs quieted once more. “Right, let’s sort this out! Come on Albie, we’ll find James and make sure he nows he’s in trouble this time!” Ginny had grown up with six brothers of her own and knew the potential for things like this to escalate. Someone took a toy that didn’t belong to them, the other retaliated and before long sibling war was declared. James could be unthinking sometimes, but never had he caused such distress in his younger brother. Looking down at Albus, who was much calmer though still taking ragged breaths she stepped over the junk that remained strewn across the hallway with Albus following slightly behind. 

A tiny, worried voice broke her from her stewing, “It wasn’t James.” Making sure she had heard right she asked Albus to repeat what he had said. “James didn’t lock me in there.” Albus looked terrified of his own voice as he spoke and once again his eyes began to well with unshed tears. Ginny knelt in front of where Albus had stopped and looked up into his face. 

“Who locked you in there honey?”, she waited for a response.  
Albus was no longer holding her hand but had started to suck his thumb, a relic of his younger years she hadn’t seen him resort to such self-soothing measures in a long time. He mumbled something behind his hand but Ginny couldn’t hear what he said. 

“Please speak up baby. I need to know so I can sort it out.” Smiling in what she hoped was an encouraging way she waited for his response. Fear and anxiety welled in her chest, she did not like where this was going. 

Seemingly gathering his courage Albus lowered his hand, “Dad.” His face held a terrified expression once more but he looked as if he was searching her face for disbelief. 

Ginny could pretend that something like this was a complete shock. She wanted to fool herself into thinking that she had not expected anything like this, and perhaps in her naïveté had brushed her fears to one side. Many a time, when she contemplated the neglectful upbringing Harry had had she had foolishly convinced herself that the years spent with her family and within their marriage had rectified the years of abuse he had suffered at the Dursley’s hands. 

Ginny knew that Harry had spent the first eleven years of his life locked away in the cupboard, like a disused piece of rubbish. She knew that he used to be punished for the smallest indiscretions by being locked away, denied the basics like food and human interaction. She knew that he must have a skewed idea of what was right and wrong, and what punishment looked like. Which was perhaps why Harry doing this was making her so terribly sad, rather than angry.

Deciding to let sleeping dogs lie, as the muggle phrase went, her conscience had protested at delving too deeply into that part of his life. Despite her concerns in regards to their children the last thing she wanted to do was to disturb his now happy life by making him think of what had happened to him during those formative years. What a fool she had been. Late night conversations on this very topic with Hermione and her mother rushed through her head as she crouched in front of her teary son. 

Deciding that she had to rectify the problem at hand before thinking of anything else, she pulled Albus towards her once more. Resting his head upon her chest, as he had in those first few moments of his life, she felt the weight of what was happening at this very instant. Allowing herself to feel the crushing guilt and disappointment she felt a tear slip from her closed eyes. However, the floor in front of the stairs was probably not the best place to sort this out ,she once again rose and took Albus’ hand. 

“Honey, I’m going to have to go and find your father.” Albus looked fearful and she floundered. She had very little idea of what to do next. This certainly wasn’t something that she had seen her mother have to do when she was a girl. “But first, we’re going to go and find James and Lily and get you guys something to eat.” Now that was something she could do, and it was certainly something her mother had drilled into her. The way to calm anyone down and make them feel better was filling their belly with a plate of food. Pulling Albus beside her she walked towards the kitchen.

James and Lily were already sat at the kitchen table and oddly for them they were both rather subdued. James’ head was hung and he was looking forlornly at the small, model dragon he was fiddling with in his lap. Lily looked less upset but was quietly colouring the pages of a moving colouring book, crayons scattered around her on the table. Seeing Ginny enter, neither spoke but looked up at her with obvious relief. 

Forgetting the toy in his hands James immediately rose from his seat and rushed towards her. Rather than greeting her however, he looked at Albus and said “Are you ok? Dad was really mad, he looked really scary!” Ginny placed a hand on his shoulder and directed him back to his seat. James began to protest but with one, stern look and he stopped and complied quietly. Albus sate beside his big brother and adopted a meek pose, with his head bowed. Information was not forthcoming so Ginny prompted, “What happened?” She took a calm approach and decided to let whoever wanted to speak, speak.

James immediately began,”We were playing dares and we didn’t meant to do anything bad, and it was only a game! Albus dared me to touch the door handle on Dad’s office door and then I dared him to touch his desk! Dad was with Lily ‘cos she saw a spider in the toilet, and he left the door unlocked and we did’t think he’d mind ‘cos it was only the desk he touched!” James was getting louder and more rushed as he continued, “I know we’re not allowed in there but it was only, like a little bit in the door way. But he caught us, and cos Albus was the one in the room he lost it! He got really quiet and he went red and everything!” 

It was getting clearer now, but rather than pass judgement, Ginny wanted to hear everything. “Is this true Albus?” 

A small nod preceded an explanation; “I was in there for a second but Dad got really scary! He put me in the hallway cupboard, it was so dark in there! He…he…shut the door on me and I don’t like the dark and…I was in there for ages and nobody let me out! I couldn’t see anything.” Beginning to snivel once more, Ginny put a hand on his head. 

As head Auror Harry tried to keep his work life separate from his personal life, but sometimes it was necessary for him to bring part or all of some assignments home and this meant that his study was totally out of bounds to his nosy children. This was a rule that was strictly enforced and luckily they had only incident in the past in which they had to punish a child who broke this rule. Ginny could understand why Harry had gotten so angry at the boys for this indiscretion. Despite what had occurred this afternoon Harry was incredibly protective over his children, he’d probably acted more in worry than he had in anger. 

Ginny knew a less understanding mother would be incensed by Harry’s chosen punishment, a lesser person would perhaps react rashly and without thought. They might tear up the stairs and start and argument but Ginny was more disappointed than anything else, and not just with Harry. She had no fight in her for this. Realising that this afternoon would have repercussions beyond just one day, she sighed. 

Moving to a kitchen cupboard she pulled out a jar of biscuits, and a pot of her mum’s special recipe hot chocolate (calming draught included). She prepared the drinks and heard that the children had begun to talk quietly between themselves. Bringing the pre-dinner snacks to the table she kissed Albus on his temple. She could see Albus had calmed the instant he had taken a sip of the warm drink and satisfied that the worst of the storm had probably passed for now she said “You lot dig in, I’m going to find your father. Keep it down a bit though, okay?” 

Leaving them behind in the kitchen she made her way back to the scene of the crime. A swipe of her wand and everything was back in its place. The tidy hallway hid the disastrous events, Ginny wished it would be that easy to sort her son and husband out.

Climbing the stairs slowly she tried to ignore the growing sense of dread she felt. She reached the landing, walked towards the bedroom she shared with Harry and could see his feet just beyond the door that rested slightly ajar. The door swung inwards and revealed her husband sitting slumped on the end of the bed. Head in his hands, he didn’t react to her entrance. She could hear his ragged breathing and could tell that he was just as upset as Albus had been. The difference being that Harry’s years with the Dursleys had taught him to contain whatever upset he was feeling and the only outward display of his inner distress was his stuttering breaths. 

She gingerly sat on the edge of the bed, beside him and put her hand on his knee. Concerned that he still didn’t react to her presence she placed another hand on is shoulder and called, “Harry” softly. 

His head jerked up and she could see tears formed in his eyes, eyes that he had passed onto his son, the son he had locked in a cupboard for punishment. Distress was written on his features and Ginny was reminded of the little boy on the platform all those years ago. The one who looked so alone that September morning. Ginny inwardly cursed Harry’s family - if you could call them that. He had physically escaped them a long time ago but Ginny doubted whether he would every truly be free from the impact they had on his life. 

Resigning herself, Ginny put her arm around her husband.

She wasn’t angry, she was just saddened. She could tell Harry knew he shouldn’t have punished Albus the way he did, she could see that he knew he’d have a long way to go to make it up to his son, if he ever even could, but she also knew that this went so much deeper for him than just an inappropriate punishment for a wayward son. 

Harry had tried, all is life, to move on. Move on from a traumatic childhood, a turbulent adolescence and build a life from the ashes of his youth. She knew he had doubts about his ability to parent, he had not had many reliable father figures and so didn’t really know what a father was. Harry had put so much of himself into being the father he had always dreamt of, that one moment like this was devastating for him. However Ginny also knew that his childhood, his neglectful and fearful childhood was never very far away. Whenever they had discussions about various aspects of raising children she could see the doubt behind Harry’s eyes. She could feel his discomfort at not really knowing what he was doing. He rarely offered advice to other men in the family, but also never really sought it. Ginny suspected this was because he was ashamed of his lack of experience to draw upon, and the fact that he didn’t know how to ask for that kind of help. Knowing that this afternoon’s incident was the culmination of everything that Harry had been through as a child, she knew something had to give. 

For years Harry has resisted talking about what had happened to him, for years he had barely said a word about his home life as a child and Ginny knew that she could no longer tolerate this secrecy. They were her children too, and despite her understanding about today’s events she knew she had to put her foot down. Something like this could never happen again.

Looking at her defeated husband almost broke her heart. Here was a man who hadn’t stooped when face to face with the worst wizard in history, the man who had walked knowingly to his own death and given his life selflessly so that so many others could live, and here he was, crushed beneath his own guilt and the invisible scars he bore from a childhood spent locked away from a loving world. 

Pulling him close, she was at a loss. She held him, wishing that she knew what to do next, but for the moment she simply sat with him tight in her embrace and hoped that the answers would come. That she would find the strength to sort this mess out, that she could heal Harry to the best of her ability, and protect her children as much as was humanly possible. 

“Oh Harry.”

**Author's Note:**

> This has been floating around in my head for a while, long before the events of 'Cursed Child' but I feel this can slot into the timeline or be read as something of an AU. Harry's childhood was never really dealt with in full in the books (it being a children's book) but I feel that there must have been consequences for what they did to poor little Harry, locking him away as punishment.  
> For me, Ginny would be pretty understanding. I know she's had a fiery temper, but for me I feel that her response would be more of understanding (given what she probably knows of Harry's childhood). I might be wrong but I like how I've written her at the moment.  
> This work is complete for now, but may be updated, added to or edited in the future. Please feel free to leave comments, it is after all my first work and I'd like to hear what you think.


End file.
